"Falun Dafa practitioners cultivate themselves while living normally in the
complex environment of secular society. People of all nationalities, races,
socio-economic backgrounds, gender, ages, occupations, and different faiths are
welcome to practice, and do so entirely of their own free will, at their own
pace, and for as long as they choose. "(falundafa.org)
How is it that such a peaceful organization, dedicated to living spiritually in secular society, could pose such a threat to the Chinese government that they would want to persecute practitioners, even executing some, selling their organs on the black market, torturing them, and imprisoning them?
These tactics are beyond extreme, in any instance, but they seem all the more horrendous when up against a movement that promotes peace and soundness of mind, body and spirit. I suppose it has much to do with the fact that by 1998, only six years after it was first taught publicly in China, Falun Dafa had over 70 million Chinese followers. That is no small feat, even in a country of 1.3 Billion, and I suppose such sheer numbers could provoke fear in the authorities, whose legitimacy is dependent on the loyalty of citizens to the secular party ideology.
Still, such repressive violence disgusts me, as it does others, and Falun Dafa is widely supported around the world by organizations like Amnesty, where I first heard about their struggle against the Chinese government, to Human Rights Watch. Yet still, even as late as November of 2007, Amnesty publishd the following quote by Zhou Yongkang, Minister of Public Security in China,
"We must make efforts to create a harmonious society and a good social
environment for successfully holding the 17th Communist Party Congress and the
Beijing Olympic Games [...] We must strike hard at hostile forces at home and
abroad, such as ethnic separatists, religious extremists, violent terrorists and
'heretical organizations' like the Falun Gong who carry out destabilizing
activities." (http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=ENGASA170522007)
These "destabilizing activities" are the threat, and it is an ideological threat, a threat to the Communist and Socialist reputation and to state authority and secularism, and to the repressive government. It is the alleged "leaking" of state secrets, and the assemblies on state grounds. It is the mere existence after 7 years of a banned spiritual organization in an authoritative state. It is extraordinarily sad.
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